One bad play two plays into the season didn’t matter much to Amarillo High on Friday night at Dick Bivins Stadium.

The Sandies, aside from a defensive lapse early, looked like the well-balanced team that won 10 games last season in their season opener against Odessa High. They gave a consistent effort on both sides of the football, routing Odessa High, 35-3, and pretty much controlling the game after the first two minutes.

There are still nine games to go in the season and the Sandies could use work in some areas, but coach Mel Maxfield said there wasn’t much which displeased him.

“I think you can always improve and we wanted to be where we need to be that first ball game, and I think we are,” Maxfield said.

“I think we’ve made some tremendous progress from our scrimmage against (Midland) Lee.”

Amarillo High got burned by a big play two plays after the opening kickoff, but the Sandies dominated the game after that.

On the second play of the game, Odessa High’s Ryan Martinez hit Zach Harris for a 72-yard gain down to the Amarillo High 2-yard line as AHS safety Braden Marusak’s tackle kept Harris from scoring.

But in a sign of things to come, the Sandies kept Odessa out of the end zone, forcing the Bronchos to settle for Bryan Altamirano’s 23-yard field goal that made it 3-0 Odessa High.

“We always talk about how six plays determine the outcome and Braden Marusak refused to quit on the play and made them take one more snap and we were able to get our feet and settle for a field goal,” Maxfield said.

Four plays after the ensuing kickoff, the Sandies responded with a big play of their own, as Deon Lynch dashed 47 yards for a touchdown that gave Amarillo High a 7-3 lead. That also seemed to awaken the defense.

Odessa put together an impressive drive on the next possession, but one fourth-and-three from the AHS 29, defender Conner Kinzie tackled C.J. Eddison for a two-yard loss to give the Sandies the ball back.

Kinzie thinks the opening stop gave the Sandies huge momentum.

“I think we just wanted to get a big stop and that gave the defense confidence,” Kinzie said. “After the first few drives we got a great idea of what they were doing and we were making our reads a lot faster.”

It looked as if Amarillo High would squander it on the next play when Lynch fumbled and the Bronchos recovered at Amarillo High’s 31.

But on the next play, Amarillo High Marusak intercepted a deep pass over the middle and returned it to the AHS 37, ending the only other true offensive threat of the half for Odessa.

The Sandies then drove for another score on a 10-yard throw from Matthew Ortega to Dally Burney for a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.

Amarillo High capped the half by scoring after Kinzie intercepted a tipped pass at the Odessa 8. Kyas Rodriguez ran in on the next play to give the Sandies a 21-3 lead which they carried into halftime.

The Sandies had four takeaways on the night, with three interceptions and a fumble recovery.